CONSTANTIA FRESH Festival 2013

Fine Wine Events is proud to announce the Constantia Fresh Festival which aims to present and further discover fine wines. This year’s event will invite the finest South African wine producers to showcase not just their Sauvignon Blanc, but other wines exhibiting that all important character: Freshness.

Once again Constantia Fresh explores the distinctiveness of Constantia’s fine wine, while exploring and contrasting with offerings from other regions of South Africa and the rest of the world. Kicking off on the 1st of March with a fine wine dinner hosted by Jörg Pfützner of Fine Wine Events alongside the notable Peter Tempelhoff of Cellars Hohenort's esteemed The Greenhouse restaurant regarded as one of the best in South Africa.

Fine Wine Events will present some of the finest white, red and sweet wines of Constantia, together with well known wines from Piedmont, Toscana, Sancerre, Marlborough, Condrieu, St Joseph, Tokaji and Bordeaux. Guests will be welcomed with a selection of Constantia’s Méthode Cap Classiques, and a welcome address presented by Tempelhoff. He will prepare a delectable five-course degustation menu carefully paired with 16 local and international wines.

Guests can expect to savour wines from producers such as Buitenverwachting, Steenberg, Luciano Sandrone, Tenuta San Guido Sassicaia, Château Grand-Puy-Lacoste, Constantia Glen, Groot and Klein Constantia, Eagles Nest and many more. Seats at the dinner are limited due to the intimate nature of the restaurant. Tickets are on sale at R1500 per person.

The March 2nd main event will have wine enthusiasts wandering about the lawns of Buitenverwachting sampling South Africa's finest and freshest wines paired with canapés made by South Africa's best chefs. An elegantly constructed braai will take place in the early evening. Tickets to this tasting are on sale at R400 per person.

As an advocate of new perspectives, Pfützner has extended the invitation to other top South African wine producers, with the emphasis on freshness in their wine. ‘Constantia Fresh’, now in its fourth year running, is possible thanks to the support of the host region and participating Constantia producers namely Klein Constantia, Groot Constantia, Steenberg, Eagle’s Nest, Buitenverwachting and Constantia Glen.
 

Tickets to these events can be bought at the participating local and regional wine farms or from www.webtickets.co.za. For further information, please visit www.constantiafresh.com or contact Fine Wine Events on enjoy@finewineevents.co.za

Nothing but the Brut: Graham Beck Wines

It’s a given among the knowledgeable that even the driest of sparkling wines contains an amount of sugar, however miniscule. In its latest release - Brut Zero, Graham Beck Wines dispenses with the practice of dosage, the topping up of champenoise or Méthode Cap Classique with a sugar-infused blend.

A self-confessed “fanatic” of zero dosage champenoise, Pieter Ferreira, Cellar Master at Graham Beck Wines Robertson, jumped at the chance to create such a wine when the vintage provided grapes of the requisite flavour profile and superior quality.

“Making this style of sparkling wine is a challenge and a risk: there is no margin for error in a zero dosage wine”, Pieter said. “That’s why there are so few of them. It’s an avant-garde style.”

The purpose of dosage in a Méthode Cap Classique is to replace the small amount of wine lost during disgorgement – the forceful expending of yeast cells from the top of the bottle. It’s the sugar content in dosage that determines the category of the wine; zero dosage wines being the driest possible.

Without the addition of sugar, which can be used to balance a blend, the wine is laid bare. The effervescence magnifies the pure and natural flavour – and along with it, any possible faults. For Pieter, the grapes provided by vintage 2005 showed great promise for a no-dosage style; an instinct confirmed when he tasted the wine after secondary fermentation.

The wine was left to lie on the lees, or expended yeast, for six years before it was disgorged, at which point it was topped up only with the cuvee. The resulting wine is a purist’s delight: bone dry, ultra crisp and rich in natural flavour, “more its mineral characters than fruitiness” Pieter says – a feature highly prized by wine enthusiasts.

As a bonus, brut zero, or zero dosage wine is lower in calories than its sugar-imbued counterparts; presenting a great alternative for slimmers and those who enjoy lighter style wines.

Graham Beck’s Brut Zero is a perfect accompaniment to salty, flavoursome foods: sushi and crustacean dishes in particular. It joins the ranks of the very few zero dosage wines – these having been virtually non-existent a decade or so ago; a category growing in popularity among chefs, sommeliers and food enthusiasts.

“It’s hard to believe that a no-dosage wine could present so beautifully,” Pieter says. “I hope to see it encourage interest in this more natural style.”

 

Brut Zero or Zero Dosage:  0-3 grams of sugar per litre

·         Zero-dosage wines have existed for more than 100 years, the first being released at a time when champagnes were made almost exclusively with very high levels of dosage. The first brut wine to enjoy commercial success was released by Madame Louis Pommery in 1874; though brut zero only appeared in the 19^th century.

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